Sheet feeding apparatus



S'pl." 8; T942. 1.. R. STALDER SHEET FEEDING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 13,1939 3 Sheets-Sh eet' l INVEN'I TJR 455 A2 r/uoae BY M ATTORNEY Sept. 8,1942. L. R. STALDER SHEET FEEDING APPARATUS Filed Dec 13, 1939 sSheets-Sheet 2 INVENTQR (5 18. Snuoae BY Mia i ATTORNEY Sept. 8, 1942.sTAl-DER 2,295,060

SHEET FEEDING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 13, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 PatentedSept. 8, 1942 SHEET FEEDING APPARATUS Lee R. Stalder, Kansas City, Mo.,assignor to Certain-Teed Products Corporation, New York, N. Y., acorporation of Maryland Application December 13, 1939, Serial No.308,969

(Cl. 27-l2.2)

12 Claims.

This invention relates to a mechanism for insuring uni-directionalrotation and uni-directional circumferential delivery in a rotatingdevice. The invention especially relates to such devices for control ofthe movement of a continuous web or sheet. The invention has particularapplication in apparatus for forming suspended loops of a continuous webor sheet.

In the manufacture of sheet material such as paper, felt and otherfabrics in which a continuous sheet or web is delivered continuouslyfrom one operation in a machine or at one point in the manufacture toanother point of processing or treatment, control of the movement of thesheet or web is necessary in many cases to prevent breakage or unduestretch or cracking by virtue of folding and for other reasons. In manyof such processes of web manufacture and treatment, also, it isnecessary to include a drying or other conditioning operationintermediate between other processing steps. In such apparatus it hasbeen the practice in some cases to hang up the sheet or webs in a seriesof loops of the continuous sheet, the lower loops usually hanging freeand the upper loops passing over suspension bars or other supportsspaced apart in the direction of general movement of the sheet throughthe machine. In this way access of air to both sides of the sheet isobtained and the drying or other conditioning operation is expedited.

In the roofing art it has been common practice to use such loopers bothin the preparation of dry felts and in connection with the processes ofsaturating the sheet with asphalt and of coating the saturated sheetwith a coating of asphalt preparatory to surfacing the sheet withgranular material. In such roofing machines an endless chain or conveyorhas been used with bars or flights, sometimes made removable from thechain, which are spaced apart in the direction of movement of the chainor conveyor and so arranged that they successively contact the sheet orweb of roofing after a certain portion of said web has dropped in a loopfrom the previously contacted bar. Between each two bars or flights thesheets hang in loops which, by virtue of the forward movement of theflights as part of the conveyor, are carried forward for a sufficientdistance to allow the desired drying or conditioning operation to becompleted.

One difiiculty with loopers of this type is that when one loop is orbecomes shorter than an adjacent loop the weight of the sheet in thelonger loop may draw the sheet over the flight from the shorter loop. Asthe weight of the shorter loop continues to decrease while the weight ofthe longer loop increases, continual movement of the sheet into thelonger loop progrosses until all of the shorter loop is shortened to aportion of the sheet which extends between the two flights whichsupported the shorter loop. Piling of the sheet in the lengthened loopwith attendant folding which may cause cracking or other damage mayoccur. Such a relation of adjacent loops occurs when the sheet isdelivered from the looper, the roll-up or take-off device necessarilywithdrawing the sheet from the last loop and continually shortening thisloop with respect to the following loop until the sheet stretches tautbetween flights. A similar action, unless prevented, may occur as thesheet is delivered to the looper where the loop previously formedbecause of its greater weight may draw into itself the loop being formedor may prevent its formation between the trailing flight of saidpreviously formed loop and a flight just coming into contact with thesheet. This-lack of control of the movement of the sheet over theflights and the lack of certainty of formation and main.- tenance ofloops of desired length cause delays as Well as damage to the goods.

It is an object of the invention to overcome the difiiculties abovedescribed and to provide a rotation device in which rotation thereof anddelivery of a sheet which is in contact therewith in one direction onlyis insured.

It is a further object of the invention in the looper machine to providemeans which will control the feed of a sheet to insure the formation andmaintenance of a series of loops of the de-' sired length.

It is a further object of the invention to provide means cooperatingwith the one way rotation device to insure the completion of loops ofdesired or uniform length and ,to insure the formation of the succeedingloops.

The one way rotation device of the invention utilizes in one embodimenta simple gravity actuated pawl or latch means or dog which will permitrotation of the device in one direction but will prevent its rotation inthe opposite direction. This device may find use in various types ofrotating members but particularly in those such as rollers or drums orcylinders in contact with the circumferential surface of which a'sheetor web is intended to move tangentially. The sheet may act eitherfrictionally on said roller, drum or cylinder to cause it to turn or insome cases the sheet may be moved by positive rotation. of such roller,drum or cylinder through the intermediary action of said latch.

The one way rotation device of the invention has particular applicationin looping machines of the type above referred to. Insuch applicationfor the bars or flights of the looper may be substituted a rollermounted to turn freely on a fixed shaft, thisshaft being held with itsends supported upon the chain or V chains or other suitable members ofthe conveying apparatus of the looper. The one way rotation device ofthe invention is so combined with such a roller that the web or sheetwhich passes over and in contact with the circmuferential surface of theroller may hang between two of such rollers in the same manner that inthe prior art constructions it hangs between the flights. Because theroller is capable of rotating in one direction only the weight of theloops between flights cannot act to cause the sheet to be drawn backwardover the rollers with the resulting piling and folding of the sheetwhich may cause damage thereo. The sheet, however, may be drawn forwardat the discharge end of the looper without excessive drag over theflights from which it passes to the next step in the process, or to aroll-up device.

In connection with the one way rotation device in the application of theinvention to the looper, means are provided for preventing movement ofthe roller in either direction after the time of initial formation andduring completion of the loop following a previously completed loop. Forthis purpose means are utilized co operating with the one way rotationdevice applied to the roller so that the roller will be held as if fixedto the shaft during movement of the roller substantially for or somewhatin excess of the distance between loops or until the loop being formedis complete. Thereafter the device is released to be free to exerciseits function of turning in the forward direction only. Moreover, duringthis period of formation of a loop or a substantial part thereof thesheet or web itself may be held or gripped between the roller andauxiliary means, such as a drum or bumper roll, to prevent sliding ofthe sheet over the flight roller due to unequal weight of the web ateither side of said roller. In this way the web is prevented from movingin either direction upon that roller which is trailing in the looppreviously completed during the period of formation of a new loop. Aftercompletion of the new loop this grip upon the web is released andreliance may then be placed upon the one way rotation device and thenormal friction thereof to hold the loops in the length and positions asformed.

Further features of the invention will be understood from thedescription of the drawings to follow, in which-- Fig. 1 shows an endview of a roller provided with the one way rotation device of theinvention.

Fig. 2 is a cross-section in plan on line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 shows diagrammatically a looper equipped with the devices oftheinvention.

Fig. 4 shows a section on line 44 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 shows in enlarged scale a portion of the looper apparatus at theintake end thereof.

In Figs. 1 and 2 a roll I is illustrated which may be formed with a pipeor tube 2 having fitted internally thereof a disc 4 provided with hubs 5which may be formed integral with the disc. The outer circumference 6 ofthe disc 4 may be turned to fit the internal diameter 3 of the pipe ortube 2. Screws 8 may be tapped into the disc 4 through holes in the pipeor tube 2 to hold the disc in place within the pipe or other suitablemeans of fastening may be adopted. The bore It) of the hubs 5 of thedisc 4 is substantially concentric with the circumference 6 of the discand the outer circumference l2 of the tube or pipe 2 may be turnedconcentric with said bore 10. Passing through the bore I9 with a runningfit is shaft [4. A collar l5 fastened with a pin 16 through shaft I4 maybe placed against one face of the hub 5. A similar collar may bepositioned against a hub 5 of a similar disc 4 (not shown) at theopposite end of said roll I. These collars may be so placed as toprevent movement of the roll lengthwise of shaft [4 but leave the rollfree to turn thereon.

The shaft I4 may be fastened by means of a set screw I8 tapped into abearing or bracket 20 through the bore 21 of which the shaft l4 passes.The shaft l4 thereby is prevented from rotating in said bearing orblock. The bearing 20 in the general case may be a fixed hearing but inthe particular application hereafter described this bearing may bemounted upon a conveyor or chain to give said bearing a movement oftranslation. Thus, a roll I of the type described and supported in apair of such bearings 20 mounted on parallel chains will be carriedforward with a motion of translation, impelled by the chain, as in thecommon looper.

In either case the roll is free to rotate upon the shaft unlessprevented by other means. In order to permit rotation in one direction,for example in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1, according to theinvention a pawl or latch 24 is pivoted upon a pin 25 and supportedwithin the tube 2 by means of a bracket 26 having a hub 21 fitting overthe shaft l4 and secured thereto by the pin 28 passing through said hub2'! and shaft l4. The bracket 26 is provided with two arms 29, Fig. 2,between which the pivot end of the latch 24 is positioned withoutbinding. The pin 25 passes through holes in the arms 29 and a hole inlatch 24 in such a way that the latch 24 is free to swing upon the pin25. The pin 25 may be held in position against movement endwise bycotter pins 39.

The latch 24 is of arcuate form so as to pass around the shaft [4 andthe hub 27 and is formed with a bend or toe at the end thereof oppositethe pivot pin 25 so as to provide a surface 32 for contact which willgenerally conform to the inner circumference of the tube 2. It will benoted that the hub 21 and the arms 26 are so positioned with respect tothe horizontal and vertical through the center of shaft [4 that the pin25 is at the opposite side of the vertical from the end 32 of the latch24. This is the preferable arrangement because a latch of relative longradius is thereby secured. Moreover, preferably, the pin 25 ispositioned somewhat below the horizontal through the center of the shaftI 4. The purpose of this positioning of the pin 25 relative to thesurface 32 is that as the latch 24 is moved angularly about the pin 25the surface 32 will move in lines which will intersect the innercircumference of the tube 2. In other words, since the radius from thepin 25 to the surface 32 is greater than the radius of the innercircumference 6 of the tube 2 about shaft l4 any movement of the latch24 in the direction downward will cause the surface 32 to bear againstsaid inner circumference 6 of the tube 2. The opposite directionofangular movement of the latch 24 will release the surface 32 from saidinner circumference of the tube 2. If the center of the pin 25 were onthe horizontal or on a diameter through the center of the shaft I4 whichalso passes through a point upon the surface 32, no motion of the latch24 upward or downward would be possible and no release of the bearing ofthe surface 32 from hearing against the tube 2 would be possible.

Under the action which takes place if the roll I is rotated in theclockwise direction in the particular arrangement shown in Fig. 1 thelatch surface 32 will press against the inner surface 6 of the tube 2with pressure increasing with the force put upon the roll I tending toproduce movement in the clockwise direction. It will be apparent, also,from examination of Fig. 1 that any such force brought upon the latch 24would tend to make the pin 25 and the arms 26 rotate in the clockwisedirection. This movement, however, is prevented by the pin 28 passingthrough the hub 21 and the flxed shaft I. Thus by the jamming action ofthe surface 32 against the inner surface 6 of the tube 2 clockwiserotation of said tube and the roll is prevented. Ihe roll I, however, isfree to rotate in the counter-clockwise direction because the force thusapplied to the roll will tend, by friction and subsequent release of thesurface 32 from surface 6, to move the latch 24 upward at the free endthus to carry the surface 32 away from the inner surface of the pipe 2.

It will be noted in the particular embodiment of the inventionillustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 that gravity is used initially to bring thelatch down with the surface 32 in contact with the inner surface 6 ofthe tube 2. Within the scope of the invention, however, other means maybe provided, such as a spring, suitably fastened to the latch 32 and tothe fixed shaft id or the fixed hub 5 to bias the latch 26 to swing uponthe pin 25 in the direction, that is the clockwise direction, which willbring the surface 32 into contact with the inner surface of the tube 2.

It will be apparent from the above description that a sheet or web incontact with the circumferential surface i2 of the roll I and havingfriction against this surface sufficient to prevent its slipping thereonwill cause said roll I to move in the counter-olockwise direction whensaid sheet is drawn in said direction. Conversely, however, any movementof the sheet tending to cause clockwise direction of the roll I in thearrangement shown in Figs. 1 and 2 will be prevented by the action ofthe latch 24 which has been described.

In Fig. 3 is shown a looper. equipped with rolls or roller flights so inplace of the ordinary stationary flights, which roller flights areconstructed with the one way rotation device of the invention. In thisfigure, upon an endless chain 42 extending about sprockets 53 the rollsare mounted in brackets 45 fastened by suitable means to the chain 2. Asillustrated in Fig. 4 the looper may be provided with two chains 42extending about sprockets 63 connected by a shaft 41. One or more of theshafts 41 may be connected by suitable drive to a source of power forrotation thereof to accomplish the drive of the chain in the directionof the arrows as shown in Fig. 3. The arrangement is such that a portionof the chain extends horizontally at the upper part of the looper and areturn portion eX- tendshorizontally in the reverse direction below theloops of the sheet material. To carry the weight of the looper sheetwhich as shown extends over and is carried by the rolls 49, supportingrollers 49 are positioned beneath the upper horizontal stretch of thechain. The rollers t9 may be mounted in suitable supports (not shown) toturn freely therein.

In Fig. 3 the sheet 5| to be hung in loops in the looper is received atthe receiving end of the machine, passing under the tension or idlerroller 50 and over feed or pull roll 52 between which and pressure oridler roll 33 the sheet 5| may pass. From the pull roll 52 the sheet 5|passes down into contact with a flight roll 44 between which and thepreceding roll 4| in the direction of movement of the chain a loop 56 ofthe sheet 5| is being formed. With the flight rollers in the positionsas shown in Fig. 3 the loop 56 being formed approaches completion of theloop, the sheet 5| moving with the surface of the roll 3.4 with which itis in contact. As will be hereafter described, the rolls 4| and 44between which this loop is suspended are held against rotation in eitherdirection substantially at once after completion of the loop .55. Theone way rotation devices of the invention described in connection withFigs. 1 and 2 prevent rotation of the rolls 4| and M in the clockwisedirection. With the cooperation of other means to be described, motionof the rollers in the counter-clockwise direction is prevented as theloop is moved toward the left in Fig. 3. As the loop approachescompletion, the sheet moving circumferentially with the surface of therighthand roller M, this flight roller 44 comes into contact with thebumper roll 55 between which and the roll 44 the sheet may be gripped toprevent further movement upon said roll 54. From the consideration ofthe arrangement of Fig. 3 and the explanation to be given in connectionwith Figs. 4 and 5 it will be clear that when the sheet 5| is thusgripped between the bumper roll 55 and the roll i i, the latter by thattime having progressed to the left in Fig. 3 a sufficient distance, anew loop of the sheet 5| will start forming between said roll 54 and thepull roll 52. As the roll 44 progresses to the left, the sheet 5i beingfed by the pull roll 52, a new loop of the sheet 5| will be formedbetween roll E i and the following roll 35 on the chain d2.

Positioned above the rolls ill, 5|, Lid and 45 as they move in thehorizontal upper stretch of the chain is shown in Fig. 3 a block 65 onthe lower horizontal face of which is fastened by suitable means afacing 6| of sheet friction material, such as a rubber sheet, in suchposition as to contact the upper circumferential surfaces of the rollsin, time, 45 to tend. to impel them to rotate in the clockwisedirection. As the one way rotation device and particularly the latch 24described above will prevent rotation of these rolls or roller flightsin this direction, these rolls, such as the rolls ti and 5.4 in Fig. 3,are substantially held fixed against rotation during the period ofcontact with the friction facing 5| of the block Gil. It will beapparent, therefore, that the loop 51 which precedes the loop 55 in thedirection of movement of the loops through the looper will not beeffective because of its longer length to draw the portion of the sheet5| forming the loop 56 into itself. The loop 55, therefore, may beformed and completed by the time that the bumper roll 55 contacts theroller flight 44. This roller flight M then acts in the manner of rollerflight M until released from contact with the friction facing 6|.

During the movement of a roller flight iii, such as the roller flight4|, from a position of first contact with the friction facing 6i to theposition thereof shown in Fig. 3 this roller flight t! not only is heldagainst rotary motion but, as re-- ferred to above, about the time ofcompletion of the loop 5? in the manner referred to in connection withloop 56, this roller contacts the bumper roll 55 and is maintained inengagement therewith until it reaches the position shown in Fig. 3 atwhich place it is about to be released from said contact with the bumperroll 55. The sheet, therefore,isheld into contact with the rollsubstantially throughout the period of formation of the loop and untilits completion.

When the roll 4| passes out of contact with the bumper roll 55 this roll55, mounted on shaft 65 which is hung in bearings 56 on the lower end ofsuspension arms 51 which are pivoted on the axis 68, swings down fromthe position shown toward the approaching roller flight 46. Uponmovement of the roll 44 into contact with the bumper roll 55, the sheet5| being gripped therebetween, the bumper roll 55 may again be impelledby the roll 44 to swing upon the axis 63 toward the left as shown inFig. 3 until again it is released by the roll 44 passing beyond theposition of roll 45 as shown in Fig. 3. In order, however, to allow forcompletion of the loop, such as the loop 56, between rollers 5| and 44by movement of the sheet 5| upon the: roll 44 means are provided toprevent contact of the bumper roll 55 with the sheet 5| and roll 54until the loop 56 substantially is fully delivered by the pull roll 52.For this purpose, at either end of the shaft 65 of the bumper roll 55are fastened wheels or pulleys arranged for friction contact with drivewheels H which may have on their circumferential surfaces a covering orlayer of rubber to provide good frictional contact respectively with thewheels 16 as shown in Fig. 4. The wheels may be driven from any powerdriven shaft of the apparatus such as the shaft 4? in Fig. 3 whichcarries the sprocket 43 for the chain drive of the looper. Asdiagrammatically illustrated by the dot and dash line in Fig. 3, a beltor chain 13 may be used to drive from the shaft 51 to a shaft 14 uponwhich the wheel H is mounted. The shaft 74 may be positioned by suitablylocating its supporting bracket so that the bumper roll 55, as shown indotted outline in Fig. 5, will fall back until the castiron roll l'ilcomes into contact with the rubber covered roll H. Thereafter the roll10 and, therefore, the shaft 65 and the bumper roll 55 which are allfastened to said shaft will rotate under the friction drive of the wheeluntil the roll 54 with the'sheet 5| in contact therewith brings saidsheet into contact with the bumper roll 55 to grip the sheet betweenrolls 44 and 55. Thereafter the wheel 10 will be moved out of contactwith the rubber covered wheel H and further rotation of the bumper rollwill be prevented while maintaining the grip of the sheet 5| betweensaid roll and the flight roller 44. The position of the shaft l4 and,therefore, of the rubber covered wheel 3| should be so chosen thatcontact of the bumper roll is efiectively made just prior to completionof the loop 56 but allowing for a small amount of feed of the sheet 5|between the flight roller 44 and the bumper roll 55. This feeding motionbetween said rolls will occur during the short period until the wheel Hiis lifted out of frictional drive engagement with the rubber coveredwheel 7|. If desired, the bracket supporting the shaft M and, therefore,the wheel 'Il may be made adjustable to vary this position to secure thedesired action. As the flight roller 44, however, is held against motionin either direction, as described above, the adjustment should be somade that rotation of the bumper roll by virtue of the friction drivebetween the wheels 1| and 10 should cease promptly after contact of thebumper roll 55 with the sheet in order that the sheet shall not bedamaged by the friction action of the surface of the bumper roll 55thereagainst. It will be clear, however, that when frictional contact ofthe wheels 10 and H is removed the roll 55 may remain in contact withthe sheet 5| against the surface of the flight roller 44 for the purposewhich has been described above.

It will now be clear that control is rovided for the amount of materialdelivered to each loop so that a uniform length of loop may be securedand that the formation f the loop between roller flights and thecompletion thereof to the desired length may be insured. As the rollerflights 40 pass out of engagement with the friction facing 6| to thepositions of the flights 40 in the upper stretch of the chain, theseroller flights are released so that they may rotate in thecounter-clockwise direction in Fig. 3 while remaining under control ofthe one way rotation device and the latch 24 thereof which preventsrotation in the counter-clockwise direction. By means of a take-updevice or other sheet moving or feeding means the sheet 5| as it isdelivered from the last roller flight 40 at the upper stretch of theconveyor may be received and rolled up. The sheet may be pulled oversaid last roller flight 40 by shortening of the loop 8| until the sheetstretches in the position 82 across the two upper roller flights at thisend of the looper. During the interval of withdrawal of the loop 8| andthe rolling thereof on roll-up device 80 the roller flights 40 move tothe left to bring the next loop into the position of the loop 8| forwithdrawal from the looper. It will be apparent, therefore, that whilethe sheet 5| may move over the roller flights 4D, turning them in thecounter-clockwise direction, these roller flights may not turn in theopposite direction so that the weight of the adjacent loop of longerlength cannot by virtue of its weight pull into itself the material ofthe loop 8|. Thus there is insured the complete withdrawal of the loop8| by the take-up device 80 without undue tension and shock to the sheetand without the piling up and folding which would occur if the shorterloop were withdrawn into a longer loop.

While the arrangements shown in the drawings are merely diagrammatic,modifications of these arrangements and of the particular details of thedesign may be made within the scope of the invention.

Having thus described my invention I now claim:

1. In a looper an endless conveyor, a plurality of rollers mounted onsaid conveyor in spaced relation along its length with their axestransverse to the length of the conveyor and in parallel relation toeach other, means associated with said rollers to prevent rotationthereof in a given direction of rotation while releasing said rollers tooperate in the opposite direction of rotation, and means for feeding aweb to said looper into contact with the circumference of said rollersand so as to form loops between adjacent rollers.

2. In a looper an endless conveyor, a plurality of rollers mounted onsaid conveyor in spaced relation along its length with their axestransverse to the length of the conveyor and in parallel relation toeach other, means associated with said rollers to prevent rotationthereof in a given direction of rotation while releasing said rollers tooperate in the opposite direction of rotation, means for feeding a webto said looper into contact with the circumference of said rollers andso as to form loops between adjacent rollers, and means for moving saidconveyor to move said loop carrying rollers progressively away from thepoint at which the web is fed to the looper.

3. Apparatus for feeding a web which comprises a plurality of rollers inspaced relation with their axes parallel, means for moving said rollerssubstantially in the plane of their axes in a direction transverse tosaid axes while substantially maintaining said spaced relation, meansacting on said rollers to prevent rotation thereof in either direction,whereby a loop of said web formed between said rollers and in contactwith the circumference thereof is prevented from moving thereover, meansacting to release said rollers for rotation thereof upon completion ofsaid loop, and means acting thereafter to prevent rotation of saidroller in the direction counter to the feeding of the web.

4. Apparatus for feeding a web which comprises a conveyor, a pluralityof rollers mounted on said conveyor in spaced relation with their axessubstantially parallel and transverse to the direction of movement ofthe conveyor, means associated with each roller to prevent rotationthereof in one direction of rotation while releasing said roller tooperate in the opposite direction of rotation, means for feeding a sheetto said rollers to form loops therebetween, and means for preventingrotation of said rollers in said other direction of rotation during theinterval of formation of a loop succeeding a completed loop extendingbetween two of said rollers.

5. Apparatus for feeding a web which comprises an endless conveyor, aplurality of shafts carried by said conveyor with their axes paralleland extending generally transverse to the direction of motion of theconveyor, a roller carried by each shaft and loosely fitting thereon forrotation upon said shaft, means carried by said shaft and fixed inrelation to the conveyor for preventing rotation of said rollers in onedirection while releasing said rollers for rotation in the oppositedirection of rotation, means for feeding a web to contact successivelywith said rollers and so as to form loops therebetween, and means actingwith a roller between which and said loop forming means a loop beingformed extends to grip the web to prevent circumferential movementthereof with respect to the axis of said lastmentioned roller.

6. Apparatus according to claim in which said gripping means is arrangedto move with said roller as it moves with said conveyor.

'7. Apparatus for feeding a web which comprises an endless conveyor, aplurality of shafts carried by said conveyor with their axes paralleland extending enerally transverse to the direction of motion of theconveyor, a roller carried by each shaft and loosely fitting thereon forrotation upon said shaft, means carried by said shaft and fixed inrelation to the conveyor for preventing rotation of said roller in onedirection while releasing said roller for rotation in the oppositedirection of rotation, means for feeding a web to contact successivelywith said rollers and so as to form loops therebetween, and an auxiliaryroller arranged for circumferential contact with each roller carried bysaid conveyor as it passes said auxiliary roller, said auxiliary rollerbeing so arranged with respect to the rollers carried by said conveyorthat said action of contacting biases said rollers to rotate in saidfirstmentioned direction, whereby the web may be gripped between saidauxiliary roller and the roller which is passing said auxiliary rollerto prevent motion of said sheet upon said roller.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7 in which means are provided foreffecting movement of said auxiliary roller together with the rollerwith which it is in contact and for return of said auxiliary roller tothe position at which initial contact of said roller with said auxiliaryroller occurred upon release from said contact.

9. Apparatus according to claim 7 which includes means for pivoting saidauxiliary roller at a point removed from its axis to provide formovement of said auxiliary roller with the roller with which it is incontact during the interval of said contact.

10. Apparatus for feeding a web which comprises an endless conveyor, aplurality of shafts carried by said conveyor with their axes paralleland extending generally transverse to the direction of motion of theconveyor, a roller carried by each shaft, means carried by said shaftsand fixed in relation to the conveyor for preventing rotation of saidrollers in one direction while releasing said rollers for rotation inthe opposite direction of rotation, means for feeding a web to contactsuccessively with said rollers and so as to form loops therebetween, andmeans providing a frictional surface arranged to contact said rollersand extending for the distance between two successive rollers, saidfrictional surface being so arranged with respect to the axis of therollers as to bias said rollers to rotate in said first direction ofrotation and thereby to act with said means carried by said shafts toprevent rotation of said rollers in either direction.

11. Apparatus for feeding a web which comprises a roller, means formoving said roller so as to maintain the axis thereof parallel to itselffor each position thereof to which it is moved, means associated withsaid roller to prevent rotation thereof in one direction of rotationwhile releasing said roller for rotation in the opposite direction ofrotation, means for feeding the web circumferentially to contact withsaid roller, an auxiliary roller arranged for circumferential contactwith said first roller at a predetermined position of said first rollerand with said web between said rollers, and means for positivelyeffecting rotation of said auxiliary roller to move the circumferencethereof concomitantly with the web contacted thereby.

12. Apparatus for feeding a web which comprises a roller, means formoving said roller so as to maintain the axis thereof parallel to itselffor each position thereof to which it is moved,

means associated with said roller to prevent rotation thereof in onedirection of rotation while releasing said roller for rotation in theopposite direction of rotation, means for feeding the webcircumferentially to contact with said roller, an auxiliary rollerarranged for circumferential contact with said first roller at apredetermined position of said first roller and with said web betweensaid rollers, means for positively effecting rotation of said auxiliaryroller to move the circumference thereof concomitantly with the webcontacted thereby, means for preventing rotation of said first roller insaid opposite direction, and means for disengaging said auxiliary rollerfrom positive rotation thereof upon the coming into action of said meansfor preventing rotation of said roller in said opposite direction.

LEE R. STALDER.

